As trees such as palm trees grow, new fronds sprout at the top and old fronds wither and die. When old fronds die and are cut off, this results in dead frond segments, hereinafter called "collars" or "frond segments", remaining on the trunk presenting an unsightly appearance and an inviting nest for insects and rodents. Dirt and detritus also tend to collect at the collar cluster. In the past, it has been the practice to manually trim the collars close to the trunk from palm tree trunks to enhance the beauty of the tree and prevent the occurrence of the above problems.
Manual removal of collars is slow, tedious work and, due to the heights involved, also presents a safety risk. It has also been known to construct devices for trimming the old fronds from trees. Susil, U.S. Pat. No. 2,727,335, discloses such a device. Such prior devices however are not designed to remove collars from the trunks of trees to provide a smooth trunk and branch segments. There are also other considerations. Trees vary from tree to tree in diameter. An ability to conform to the changing girth of a tree in as simple a device as possible to enhance its reliability and performance is highly desirable.